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Drayton Valley vehicle break-in leaves Calgary woman devastated

Jan 17, 2019 | 10:47 AM

A Calgary woman is hoping someone in the Drayton Valley area might have information on a vehicle break-in that has left her devastated.

Bree Blake is a medic and first responder working in and around the Drayton Valley. On the weekend of January 12 and 13, had her vehicle broken into which contained nearly every item of clothing she owned, personal information and numerous other items worth thousands of dollars.

Blake says her job takes her to remote areas for weeks at a time and while parked, her brand new vehicle was ransacked, with virtually everything inside taken.

“Windows were smashed and the contents of the vehicle were emptied right out, they had taken suitcases and electronics, money,” she explains. “There was mail in one of the suitcases, a lot of personal information. So I finished off my 13 hour shift and drove back to Drayton to come deal with it.”

Blake says unfortunately, the nature of her job requires her to have more personal items in her vehicle than she admits is ideal.

“This is consecutive days of work, so sometimes between 12-16 hour shifts every day for 24 days in a row,” states Blake. “But because I spend about 90 per cent of my life out in the field working, I haven’t chosen to have a permanent residence. I’ve got a storage unit in Calgary that has personal belongings and furniture, but I typically take my clothes with me and stuff like that.”

Adding salt to the wound, Blake says she also had personal tax information in her vehicle at the time of the break-in, leaving her feeling like her identity has been compromised.

“I was prepared and ready to do my 2018 taxes as well and had some paper work kind of buried in the bottom of one of those suitcases that was taken,” she laments. “There were electronics, cell phones, Samsung tablets and a small guitar that was given to me, a Denver acoustic half size that I take to locations just to take around for something to do away from home. The things that I immediately use like my clothing, I pack four weeks of food with me, it’s devastating to have all that taken from you.”

Blake says she’s telling her story because she wants to see the individual or individuals responsible caught for their crime.

“The degree of devastation that it’s put on me and also my co-workers, we want these people caught,” she exclaims. “We want tips to start rolling in to Drayton Valley RCMP who have been awesome. So if anyone hears of anything or spots any of the items that are listed in the social media post as well, we would like to recover some stuff.”

Cst. Mario Gauvin with Drayton Valley RCMP says their investigation into the incident is ongoing and that they are reviewing video footage in an attempt to identify suspect(s).